Scar tissue is a part of the body’s natural healing process: in the same way that a cut in the skin will eventually heal over and form a temporary or permanent scar, the same happens within the body when serious injury, surgery or repetitive trauma occurs. Cells are destroyed and cells must regenerate to replace them. The only difference is that scar tissue, by some estimates, is 60% as elastic as the previous healthy tissue. Furthermore, when scar tissue is allowed to build up over time it can form an adhesion to the surrounding tissue, rendering a previously flexible region stiff and sore. 

The idea is too prevent the accumulation of too much scar tissue. Chiropractic offers a few excellent modalities for doing just that, including the Active Release Technique, Graston Technique, Myofascial Release, and Trigger Point Therapy that targets areas with a lot of scar tissue and breaks up the tension. Even basic massage is good at getting in there and dissipating the build up of scar tissue. By doing this, we can help you improve range of motions in stiff joints and improve pain symptoms. 

One final benefit is that by defeating the adhesion of scar tissue to surrounding tissue, we are actively fighting a force that is seeking to pull your body out of balance. At Holmes Chiropractic, we support any initiative that keeps your spine balanced and free of pain. If too much scar tissue has created a problem in your life, give our office a call and schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

Are you currently, or have you ever been in the predicament where you want to start exercising, but the thought of starting from scratch seems overwhelming and just plain difficult? If so, don’t despair: there are millions of other people in America who face the same wall. With the proliferation of workout plans and the dissemination of diet fads online, there is more misinformation and confusion than ever when it comes to the rather large concept of, “getting healthy.” At Holmes Chiropractic, we find that humans thrive and are more likely to succeed when goals are discussed in person. Interfacing forces you to be more honest and it really helps to tease out your inhibitions and help you develop strategies for overcoming them. 

Any plan to get you back to exercising regularly must begin by removing physical obstacles such as pain and stiffness. Subluxation is perhaps the most common spinal ailment, and chiropractic adjustments are great at removing the nerve interference and restoring the back to a state of balance. If your muscles are tight from years of working in an office, we can target trigger points with massage modalities to release tension and increase circulation.

When it comes to working out, the golden rule is persistence. Staying committed to your plan, whatever it is, will pay far more dividends than working out intensely and burning yourself out. We can help you develop a plan that incorporates the kind of exercise you are comfortable with and happy doing so that you keep coming back for more.

A conversation could be all the catalyst you need to effect major life improvements. Let us help you by serving as both your chiropractic doctor and accountability partner in your quest for well-being. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

So you want to get moving, but the thought of going for a run is appalling, you don’t have a bicycle and, at this point, you’re all out of ideas. This is typical for many people who find it hard to get motivated or excited about working out regularly: the excuses usually outweigh everything else. It would help if there was an activity that you could get excited about and for people who are comfortable in the water, swimming could be just the ticket to help you maintain weight and peace of mind. I want to give you a few reasons why getting back in touch with your aquatic ancestry could be a boon for your health: 

• Whole body workout: as you glide through the water, you are working out muscles you don’t use on a daily basis. The natural resistance of the water builds and tones muscles and can burn up to 500 calories an hour. 
• Breathing better: swimming simply makes your respiratory system work harder. Water is denser than air which means your body must work harder to capture and supply oxygen to the body. As you swim more, you will establish a new, better baseline of breathing.
• Less impact: as far as aerobic exercise goes, swimming is the one with the least drawbacks. Running (and cycling to a certain extent) is an activity that causes repetitive trauma to the joints, especially in the knees and spine. Swimming has all the aerobic benefits without the trauma.
• Good for the mind: being buoyant feels great. Tension lifts, gravity is partially suspended and your joints and muscles revel in the feeling. Simply being in water is linked to improvements in mood for both men and women.

Swimming can be as vigorous or slow-moving as you like. The point is that you are using your body regularly. For help on finding the right workout to get yourself moving, give our office in Houston a call and schedule an appointment today. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

It pays to be confident in your body’s range of motion; you can perform to your standard of movement knowing that injury is not waiting to strike at any moment.  know all Age alone takes a toll on the body, before considering other factors like diet, exercise and overall health. Most adults are at peace with the realization that they may never again see the flexibility they had as a child, but there are steps you can take to preserve your range of motion and thus, the longevity of your body, if we can only be bothered. 

What does a more flexible body look like?

• Lengthier muscles and connective tissue
• Enables these same muscles to work more effectively
• Increase of blood flow to the muscles
• Injury prevention 
• Confidence in motion
• Better posture

At Holmes Chiropractic, we help people find their optimal range of motion, depending on the unique circumstances of their life. We seek to help everyone perform the motions they need to without pain and focus on rehabilitating injuries that may be limiting them. An important element of a fully flexible body is a properly balanced and aligned spine, and we help you to maintain this balance with chiropractic adjustment. Once we loosen the tight grip of pain from your life, we can focus on a wellness plan that supports strong, mobile joints and pliable muscles.

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

What is your breakfast style? From protein hounds to yogurt fiends to the functioning coffee and croissant addict, there are a variety of ways you can choose to start off your day. The important part is that you feed your brain to help break the fast of the night and transition into a day full of productivity or activity. This means that for optimal nutrition, food must be consumed within 2 hours of waking, and the more balanced the better. Eating little to no breakfast is linked to serious health concerns including depression, diabetes and heart disease. Besides this, our well-being is affected when we forego the morning meal. At Holmes Chiropractic, we believe the verdict is clear: we need to start taking breakfast seriously. Breakfast affects us in the following ways: 

• Weight management: when did people start thinking that foregoing breakfast was a legitimate way to lose weight. The more likely outcome is that your body craves calories later in the day to make up for the deficit that you created, leading you to eat more during the least active part of the day, creating actual weight gain. 
• Energy needs: you need fuel to get your butt out the door in the morning. While coffee is great for meeting immediate cognitive energy needs, it neglects all other parts of the body. 
• Cognitive function: your brain is a muscle on its own. If you starve it of key nutrients in the morning, how can you reasonably expect it to function with high productivity and low stress? 
• Longevity: simply put, eating breakfast regularly is linked to a longer life. As with everything in life, our eating habits should be fluid: rather than depleting it of nutrients then making up for it later, we should hold nutrient levels steady throughout the day. 

We would like to see people rekindle their relationship with breakfast time. Carving out a few extra minutes to enjoy a balanced breakfast can make all the difference in your daily state of mind. At our office in Houston, we support you through every health goal, whether it be losing or maintaining weight, rehabilitating and injury or maintaining your daily well-being, give our office a call and start making changes today. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

Resistance stretching is relatively new to the spotlight, having come into prominence as an integral part of US Olympic training programs. Perhaps this occurrence was given rise because modern lifestyles have led us to value efficiency and in this respect, resistance stretching is a king. At Holmes Chiropractic we believe that both flexibility and strength are integral to well-being and longevity of the body. With resistance stretching, you can build both simultaneously while doing more mundane activities such as watching television. We call that healthy multi-tasking. 

The benefits of resistance stretching: 

• Contributes to spinal balance
• Increases muscle power production
• Improves flexibility and thus, preserves range of motion
• Improves joint mechanics
• Reduces joint stress and pain
• Increases core stability

Resistance stretching is counter-intuitive: it relies on the idea that a muscle can be simultaneously shortened and lengthened. However, it can be done with the right attention to detail: exercises such as resisted neck twists, core development stretching, partner-resisted upper back and hamstring stretches are easy to learn and have a lasting benefit. Furthermore, the importance of both stretching and exercise is not found in the intensity but the regularity. We want to help you learn to truly appreciate the value of stretching so that you will keep yourself accountable as you progress with your health plan. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

Exercise should be an integral part of your herniated disc treatment plan. Physical activity preserves the strength and integrity of the supportive muscles and structures around the injury, as well as opening up the injurious region to an influx of oxygen and healing nutrients resulting from increased circulation. While an initial period rest may be recommended or observed, getting moving again is a critical piece of your recovery. 

• Focus on the core: conditioning the trunk muscles to act as stabilizers helps remove some of the burden of upper body weight from the spine, especially in the lumbar region. 
• Losing weight: every ounce counts. The best way to prevent injury is to maintain a healthy body weight so that the spine is not carrying around excess pounds. The odds are already stacked against our spines; keeping weight down is one of the few things we can do to preserve our spines into old age. 
• Refocus and redefine normal activity: don’t think, “intense,” but rather, “simple:” Low-impact aerobic exercise like walking and swimming should have priority rather than heavy weight lifting sessions and long runs. 

A good target is 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Whether this means walking, swimming, yoga or pilates, is dependent upon the individual and their injury. At Holmes Chiropractic, we can help you devise a master plan for healing your herniated disc. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

A herniated disc will most likely heal itself naturally, but the time frame is hard to determine. Depending on the position of the disc and the way it is herniated, healing times can be as low as 6 weeks or drag on for longer than a year. More serious cases involve repetitive irritation of the injury: some people are predisposed to re-aggravation of the injury and lifestyle choices have a lot to do with it.

Don’t let the pain hold you back: While “resuming normal activity,” may be impossible, don’t avoid activity altogether. Resting with the injury is counterproductive: it may actually delay recovery because supportive muscles will stiffen and atrophy, and soft tissues will become more vulnerable to injury. Furthermore, the intervertebral discs can become brittle without any movement. The solution is to keep moving, even with the pain. We can show you how low-impact aerobic activities such as swimming, combined with range-of-motion preserving stretching and exercise can help a herniated disc heal quicker. 

No activity should be undertaken that aggravates the standing symptoms. Finding your perfect level of activity may be difficult alone; it helps to get a professional opinion on the degree of the injury so that you can create a proactive plan to heal it successfully. At Holmes Chiropractic, we can help you implement a plan that involves chiropractic adjustment, therapeutic massage, corrective exercise and stretching that will get you back to a normal level of activity as quickly and naturally as possible.

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

While the severity, frequency and duration of herniated disc symptoms vary by the individual, there is one thing that all sufferers of the condition can do: use the power of nutrition. The diet for a herniated disc relates to the anatomy of the injury. Spinal discs are made of 2 layers: 

• The outer layer, called the annulus fibrosus, is designed for durability and is made up of layers of strong collagen fibers. 
  
• The inner layer, called the nucleus pulposus, is responsible for the shock absorption. This layer is composed of loose fibers that allow the spine its range of motion. 

A herniated disc essentially means that the annulus fibrosus is cracked, allowing the nucleus pulposus to leak out and push against the compromised area. If this bulge is significant, it will put pressure on the nearby nerve roots, creating the discomfort, stiffness and pain that is associated with the condition. 

A diet to ease these symptoms and encourage more rapid healing therefore begins with the cracking of the annulus fibrosus, a structure composed of cartilaginous material. There are nutrients that you can consume to support the regrowth and maintenance of healthy cartilage. Foods that are good for herniated disc sufferers are those rich in:

• Glucosamine-sulfate: helps the body produce chemicals that catalyze the repair of cartilage.
• Vitamin C: helps the body form the protein collagen, an essential element in the production of cartilage.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: to help with the pain and stiffness, consuming anti-inflammatory ingredients is a good place to start. 
• Sulfur-rich foods: to help maintain the integrity of connective tissue. 

At Holmes Chiropractic, we support a multi-dimensional and natural approach to healing herniated discs. Combining chiropractic adjustment with the potency of nutrition and the vitality restored with corrective exercise and stretching, you can ease the severity of your symptoms. 

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C. 

In extreme cases, a herniated disc can be so advanced, causing so much pain that surgery is advisable. More often however, a herniated disc will heal itself in a matter of months if the right steps are taken toward treatment and management: it can either be the tip of the iceberg for a life altering condition or a wake up signal that says you need to start taking care of your back. A herniated disc is a common spinal problem that involves the intervertebral discs that accentuate the vertebrae in the spine. Made up of cartilaginous material, these discs provide shock absorption and prevent bones from grinding upon eachother. What happens when these discs, as with any piece of fine-tuned machinery, degrade over time? 

Herniation is a logical outcome: the outer layer of the intervertebral disc bulges or breaks, allowing the softer core to leak out, putting pressure on nearby nerves that are exiting the spinal column. This nerve impingement is responsible for the pain that is being signaled to your brain. The main causes of herniation involve, among others:

• Wear and tear 
• Age 
• Acute injury
• Poor posture

Symptoms vary as exemplified by the fact that pain and discomfort involved with a herniated disc can range from non-existent to severe and can cause conditions like sciatica which affect the extremities. Herniated discs usually respond well to the flexion-distraction modality: using a specialized table, we encourage the bulging material to recenter itself and stop pressing on the nerve. Using this and other methods including muscle stimulation, corrective stretching, nutrition and exercise, we help reduce the amount of inflammation in the area, easing your pain.

For people looking to manage their herniated disc the natural way, call our office in Houston at (713) 862-2440.

Dr. Randall Holmes, D.C.